Chris Kjorness on How T-shirts Became Contraband in New Orleans

When
New Orleans entrepreneur Ed Azemas opened his eponymous French
Quarter clothing store, he never expected to be dealing in “illegal
merchandise.” But that’s exactly what he ended up doing—at least
according to an official notice from the City of New Orleans that
was posted on the store’s facade last fall. The illicit goods
Azemas and 12 other French Quarter merchants are accused of
selling? T-shirts.

The battle over French Quarter t-shirt shops is just another in
a series of episodes that pit neighborhood groups against New
Orleans businesses, while the city tries its best to play
middleman. The real winners in this t-shirt battle are large
corporations with the money and overhead to weather the ebbs and
flows of city politics and zoning enforcement, explains Chris
Kjorness. 

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